NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Mobile name and logo, NHL GameCenter and Unlimited NHL are trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.

Hurricanes 4, Devils 2

Wednesday, 08.06.2014 / 4:47 AM

Tracking the Storm: AnalysisCam Ward didn’t get the shutout, but he did get credit for a goal. On Monday night, the Carolina Hurricanes held on to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 in a game that saw the Canes leading 3-0 with less than 10 minutes to play. Two quick goals from the Devils got them back into the game, but the Canes stood tall in front of their own net for the win. Ward was credited with the team’s empty net goal, when an errant pass resulted in an own-goal for New Jersey. “I told [Allen] that I’ve got more than him right now,” Ward joked after the game. “At the end of the day, it’s a big win.”
Ward’s goal is the first for a goaltender in franchise history. Though it was originally announced as Brandon Sutter’s goal in the building, the forward said he told the officials that he never touched the puck. Ward joked that he should have stepped aside to let another goal in towards the end of the game so that he could be credited with the game-winning goal. Aside from that, this was the fourth straight game that Ward has faced 25 or less shots. The team is 2-1-1 in that stretch. Tonight, Ward looked at just two shots in the second period.
Head coach Kirk Muller called tonight’s win a team effort. Everyone got involved from the penalty kill to the fourth line to the goaltender. Sutter scored the game’s first goal shorthanded, his third such goal of the season. The Canes now have seven shorthanded goals this season, which ranks tied for the league lead with New Jersey. The Devils have also given up the most shorthanded goals in the league at 11, which Muller noted is the risk a team runs sticking four forwards on the power play. Anthony Stewart scored a goal, Tim Brent recorded two assists and Andreas Nodl extended his point streak to three games with an assist, ample contribution from the fourth line. Tuomo Ruutu also prolonged his point streak to five games (4g, 2a) with a goal tonight, the longest such streak from a Hurricane this season.
Muller said that the Hurricanes sat back too much in the last 10 minutes of the game, leading to the Devils’ two late goals. Learning to play with a lead is something that will come with time, he said. “Natural instincts sometimes happen when guys get tentative and want to sit back,” he said.
Former Hurricane Ryan Carter boarded defenseman Jaroslav Spacek late in the first period. Spacek remained on the ground for a couple of minutes, but skated off on his own and returned on the ensuing power play. Carter earned a five-minute major boarding penalty, plus a game misconduct. He’ll also probably be hearing from Brendan Shanahan tomorrow. Carter’s got to know better – you can’t hit a guy whose number is facing your chest.
The Hurricanes take a two-game winning streak to Pittsburgh where they will play the Penguins in the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night. The team has reason to be happy with their play as of late, as the results are finally starting to come. “We always talk about putting a 60-minute effort in,” Ward said, “and I think we’re doing that a lot more on a consistent basis now.”
Recap (Associated Press)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Cam Ward made 23 saves and was credited with a bizarre empty-net goal, leading the Carolina Hurricanes past the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Monday night.

Ward's first career goal came at the end of a strange sequence. Ilya Kovalchuk's errant pass for Adam Henrique from the end line wound up going the length of the ice and into an empty net with 29.4 seconds left.

Officials initially awarded the goal to Sutter before a postgame review determined he never touched the puck.

David Clarkson had a goal and an assist for New Jersey. He and Henrique scored in the third period and Johan Hedberg made 30 saves for the Devils, who had won seven of nine.

Clarkson broke up the shutout when he scored with 7:22 left. Henrique then pulled the Devils to 3-2 when he scored with 2:20 remaining before the odd sequence in the final minute.

Anton Volchenkov finished with two assists for New Jersey, which lost Ryan Carter to a game misconduct late in the first period for drilling Jaroslav Spacek hard into the end boards.

Carolina, in last place in the Southeast Division, has earned points in six of eight games.

Two of the best players in Devils history were behind Carolina's bench. New coach Kirk Muller and assistant John MacLean combined for 532 goals during their time on the ice in New Jersey.

The Devils sure could have used their offensive punch early in this one. Instead, for most of the way, it was the Hurricanes who showed off their firepower.

Ruutu pushed Carolina's lead to 2-0 by scoring his team-leading 13th goal just over 7 minutes into the second. He chipped in a rebound past a sprawled-out Hedberg and into an open net. Stewart then made it a three-goal game 10 minutes later when his wrist shot from the circle got past Hedberg's stick.

That came after Sutter scored the Hurricanes' first goal midway through the first and 23 seconds into a tripping penalty on Ruutu.

Sutter chased down the puck near center ice and skated in on Hedberg before uncorking a wrist shot from the circle that clipped the left pipe on its way in. That gave the Hurricanes their seventh short-handed goal - tying them with the Devils for most in the NHL - and marked the league-worst 11th allowed by New Jersey.

It could have been worse for the Devils, who held Carolina scoreless during a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:19, a sequence that included the misconduct and 5-minute boarding major on Carter. Drayson Bowman rang the left post moments after Stewart's goal.

NOTES: New Jersey has allowed at least three goals in five straight games. ... Ruutu has points in five straight games. ... Sutter has three short-handed goals. ... The two shots allowed in the second were the fewest yielded in a period by Carolina all season. ... The Devils lead the season series 2-1, with the home team winning every game.

NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Mobile name and logo, NHL GameCenter and Unlimited NHL are trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.